2010 Ford Shelby GT500 Expert Review: Autoblog

We know what you're thinking. Isn't it a little late to be reviewing the 2010 Shelby GT500? After all, Ford introduced the 2011 version with the new aluminum block at last month's Chicago Auto Show. It's not that we didn't want to get our hands on the 2010 GT500 before now. In fact, we were champing at the bit to review one a few days after our First Drive, but apparently the universe didn't want us to have one until now.

Last summer, a few issues delayed our chance at driving Ford's hottest 'Stang, beginning with Ford running out of tires for the GT500s in the press fleet (we can't imagine why). When Fall rolled around, the transmission in our tester was damaged the week before we were scheduled to take delivery. We were ready to give up hope when the call came in that it would be available in March. Better late than never, right? Besides, who's going to turn down a week with a 540-horsepower muscle car? Al Gore? Definitely not us.

To be honest, our expectations couldn't have been higher. Our last encounter with the 2010 GT500 at Infineon Raceway allowed us to let loose on the 1/4-mile drag strip and smooth pavement of the road course, the perfect playgrounds for a high-horsepower Mustang laden with its infamous solid rear axle. It was essentially on par with the $80,000 GT500KR, but cost $30,000 less and came without Shelby's controversial carbon fiber hood, which we could do without anyway. After a day's worth of fruitful flogging, we were ready to sign the check. But would the GT500 be a less likable character off-track? Could a 540-horsepower Mustang suit our daily requirements of equal parts grocery-getting and canyon-carving? Read on to find out.



Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright ©2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Visually, the GT500 benefits from the 2010 redesign more so than the standard Mustang V6 and GT models. The rear end, especially the taillights, doesn't look quite as awkward thanks to the subtle spoiler, and the front end takes on a slightly more aggressive appearance with its protruding snout. We're also particularly fond of the new 19-inch wheels, which appear more upscale compared to the previous 18-inch rollers. The plastic front spoiler and rear diffuser come across as bargain-basement pieces, but that might not be such a bad thing. We didn't have any problems making it over some steep dips in the road, but the car arrived with a slightly damaged lip, likely the result of a tall curb in a parking lot. It didn't take long for us to realize that parking the GT500 is more challenging that it would appear, as it's nearly impossible to judge exactly where the massive front end is when pulling forward. If that part of the coupe is going to take some fairly frequent abuse, then we would rather have the parts be as inexpensive as possible.

While the exterior is arguably more attractive than its predecessor, the interior is – without question – vastly improved compared to the previous GT500. Like the Mustang GT and V6, the GT500 benefits from a complete cockpit makeover, with higher quality materials and a more modern look. Soft-touch plastics abound, finally making occupants feel like they might actually be piloting a $50,000 car. And yes, that's real aluminum on the dash. Ford has also added a few thoughtful touches including Alcantara trim on the steering wheel, seats and shifter boot, and we also appreciate the new gauges that somehow look more modern while still retaining a retro look. The matching stripes on the seats and cue ball shifter might be too cheesy for some, but in a car like the GT500, it comes off as cool and clean.




Our test car also came with the Electronics Package that includes the navigation system and dual climate control, a $2,195 option. You'll have to forgive us for not using the SIRIUS Travel Link or the 10-gigs worth of music storage (we already know they're good), but those features weren't our primary focus while we were at the helm. We're sure you understand.

Visuals aside, the GT500 is all about the powertrain. The iron block, supercharged 5.4-liter V8 remains in the car for 2010, although it's rated at 540 horsepower thanks to its open-element air intake and engine management changes. That KR-matching horsepower, plus 510 pound-feet of torque, is channeled through a new twin-disc clutch and six-speed manual with revised gearing. Though Ford has given the GT500 a more aggressive final drive ratio (3.55:1 compared to 3.31:1), both fifth and sixth gear are now taller to provide better fuel mileage on the freeway. That doesn't sound important, but it actually drops the price of the GT500 by $300 thanks to a reduction in the gas guzzler tax. At 65 mph we could doddle along at a mere 1,500 rpm in sixth gear, which contributed to our average of 19.5 mpg overall. Not bad for a 540-hp beast.



Like the engine, the suspension has been improved thanks to knowledge gained through the GT500KR program. The front springs are 13 percent stiffer in front and seven percent stiffer at the rear, and the dampers have been tweaked to provide better control. Steering has also been improved thanks to a softer anti-roll bar and a stiffer steering shaft that reduces input effort.

All of those changes might seem minor, but they add up to a drastically better car than prior model years. While the rush of driving the previous generation GT500 quickly dwindled because of its many deficiencies, there's nothing to impede the driving experience of the new car. The steering is precise, requiring little effort at first and building up feedback as you increase speed. Assuming you haven't overloaded the front tires before going into a corner, the front end goes exactly where you point it despite the mass of iron over the front wheels. The clutch, previously vague and unforgiving, is buttery smooth and just as capable of doing hard launches as it is inching along in traffic. And the shifter, originally one of our biggest complaints in the last GT500, has lost its rubbery feel and provides accurate shifts. It requires a firm grip and a decent amount of effort to row between gears, but we'd almost be disappointed if it were too easy.



We tried to take the GT500 on as many types of roads as possible, and the results were fairly predictable. Long, smooth sweepers suit the car best, providing an easy task for the suspension and allowing the engine to really stretch its legs. The GT500 can even tackle tight turns with surprising agility, swinging the front end around with relative ease. The solid rear axle only lets itself be known over large bumps encountered mid-turn, causing the back end to step out, albeit in a fairly predictable manner that only takes a fraction of a second to correct.

Where the GT500 didn't shine was on the freeways of Southern California. The suspension tuning seemed to harmonize exactly with the repeated bumps in the road, the shocks decompressing exactly as we thudded over the next imperfection in the road. The result of bouncing up and down in our seats in a consistent rhythm over several miles quickly became tiresome.



The GT500's favorite type of road, however, is the one that is very straight, very long and very deserted. These can't be found in abundance near downtown Los Angeles, but we endured a bumpy freeway drive to get out of the city proper, and after all, we needed to test out the new three-stage traction control system. Extensively.

With the traction control fully disabled, which requires holding the TC button for a full eight seconds, the GT500 turns into the world's best burnout machine. Rev the supercharged V8 to practically any RPM, drop the clutch and in a matter of seconds the rear tires will be engulfed in massive clouds of scorched rubber while the engine bangs off redline. Shift to second and the mayhem continues. Only in third gear does the GT500 finally start to gain traction at full throttle, and at that point you'll have already breached the limit of legal speeds. If smoky burnouts are your thing, then feel free to leave the traction control off, but if you're trying to actually go somewhere in a hurry then dial the TC to Sport mode. It allows a small amount of wheel spin before cutting power, and although it still requires a delicate foot to work the throttle, provides a longer leash for tire spin than with the traction control fully on. Once hooked up the GT500 isn't necessarily the fastest car we've driven, but thanks to an insanely flat torque curve it can pull hard from just about any rpm.



But as much as we like the 2010 GT500, it's not a car we would buy. That's not to say we aren't smitten – we're just as in love as we were when we left Infineon Raceway – but we just can't recommend it. It's not the price tag ($46,325 MSRP, $50,895 as-tested), which is an incredible bargain. Nor is it the solid rear axle (negated by Ford's impressive suspension tuning). It's certainly not the interior, or the exterior for that matter.

You see, as good as the 2010 GT500 is, there's something better coming. Just like we would have never bought a 2010 Mustang GT in anticipation of the legendary 5.0-liter V8 arriving in the 2011 model, we would keep our wallet tucked away until the 2011 Shelby GT500 hits showroom floors. With its aluminum block V8 filling the space between the front fenders, the 2011 GT500 should be even better. That's what taking 105 pounds off the front end of a car will do. So be patient, and wait for the 2011 GT500. That's what we're doing.



Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright ©2010 Weblogs, Inc.

The four pillars of Ford's SVT division are Performance, Exclusivity, Substance and Value. No one is expecting the 2010 Shelby GT500 to have any problem with the last three – it's the first one that means everything. Ford told us the five tenets of the new car all start with the word "better" and end with horsepower, torque, handling, interior and fuel economy. Sent to Northern California for two days to drive it, we had only one question – whether all of those other "betters" truly equated to substantially improved performance than the previous car. The first day covered miles and miles of oceanside and backcountry roads. The second day covered figure-eights, the drag strip and the road course at Sonoma's Infineon Raceway. Follow the jump to see how the latest fanged horse does its thing.



Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc

Skipping ahead a bit, we were told that the point of the GT500 is to be a great GT. When SVT began working on the car, they took the previous GT500 as one of their obvious standards. They were also thinking about the muscle car competition that they expected – 2.5 years ago Ford planned on a factory-built 500+ horsepower supercharged Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger as competition. So Ford went the extra quarter-mile on its car, figuring the others would have the 2010 GT500 as their benchmark.



The polestar of the GT500 is the supercharged and intercooled 5.4-liter V8. This eight-chambered heart with dual overhead cams puts out 540 hp (at 6,200 rpm) and 510 ft-lb (at 4,500 rpm) with a 6,250 rpm redline. That gives it 40 more Shetlands and 30 additional foot-pounds than the previous model, with the additional torque delivery coming in at 3,000 rpm. No delay is always a good thing.

The engine was then tweaked using another benchmark: the 40th anniversary Shelby GT500KR. The GT500 gets the KR's cold-air induction system with an open-air conical filter element and snorkel lying on the right side of the engine bay (that's why the Cobra badge had to move to the left side of the grille). The open-air system increases airflow, and a sealed enclosure keeps the air going where it should. The package also benefits from revised calibration with a dual-knock sensor, revised throttle and an intake resonator to reduce noise.



Yet what good would all that function do without the proper form? How do we christen thee "Badass"? Let us count the ways.

The KR was also the inspiration for the aero modifications to the GT500, all designed to look good as well as add downforce and subtract drag. Up front, the arctic crevasses posing as air intakes were referred to as "shark nose" by Ford – we'd go with "exceptionally evil catfish."



At the top of that bisected mouth, air is routed to the radiator, which is sealed to keep said turbulence flowing to the right places. The lower grille guides wind to the intercooler, which is sealed for the same reason. And those filled-in diamonds in the grilles? Also done to aid the car's aero balance.



When a GT500 slides up behind you as you're tooling down a two-lane road, it's supposed to make you feel that your hopes and dreams have been sucked into that immense, mesh-covered rift filling your rear view mirrors. You need to know that it has come to overtake you, and that there will be no questions and no mercy. As Agent Smith said, "It is... inevitable." And apparently it works: everyone pulled over for us on our test drive – even, at one point, another GT500.

For the rear, the decklid spoiler has been steeply raked to limit drag, and features an adjustable, replaceable Gurney Flap for customers who want to play with back-end aerodynamics. The change has moved more downforce to the front of the car and the car's yaw moment forward. According to one Ford engineer, the GT500 is 50% more stable at high speeds than the previous model. If it makes a difference to you, the word "Shelby" now reaches across the car from taillight to taillight, and yes, that cobra badge is just as ginormous as it appears. Finishing things off, four-inch tailpipes say "hello" down below. Speaking of which, Ford reduced the back pressure in the exhaust and tweaked the car's burble. We'll get to that in a moment, but as Borat says: it's "very nice."



Beyond the stripes, the other delicious addition to the GT500 are its wheels. The coupe's 19x9.5-inch alloys are forged aluminum with curved spokes machined on both sides. The convertible gets 18x9.5-inch wheels, and both cars ride on new Goodyear F1 Eagle Supercar tires that Ford helped design to provide better grip. Behind those front wheels are four-pot Brembos on 14-inch rotors, with two-pot calipers on 11.8-inch rotors out back.



Inside, the GT500's cosmetic treatment is a huge improvement. The steering wheel is trimmed in Alcantara, which is wonderful when you really need to hold on to it, and the grippy fabric has also been applied to the shift and parking brake boots, along with the seats. The seats, though, are still a tad too soft and flat for our liking. They look fine – and you can get them with stripes to match those on the exterior – but they'll only hug you if you're built like the Jolly Green Giant. If you happen to be smaller, you'll wallow around unbraced when curvy time comes.

The gauges are much better than the ones on the Mustang GT, meaning we could actually tell how fast we were going. Ford wanted an aluminum shifter with machined stripes, but the supplier couldn't work that out, so the ball is resin – it's essentially a billiard cue ball with stripes and a shift pattern, but it looks great. The aluminum trim on the instrument panel is dimpled, said to be "inspired by racing clutch plates, braided hoses and cross-drilled racing brake rotors." Our riding companion just kept wondering "What's up with the polka dots?" The other shiny bits are "satin liquid chrome," which sounds fantastic and looks like... chrome.



Branding this car as an SVT effort is the illuminated red logo in the tach, as well as repeating elements in the scuff plates, and they don't change colors no matter what the adjustable ambient lighting is set to. Also, when the touchscreen comes to life, a Cobra appears instead of a Mustang. However, we do wish the car had a reversing camera like on the Mustang GT, but because of the different rear spoiler, you can't get it.

Add it all up, and the 2010 model is only about 20 pounds heavier than the previous GT500. Combined with the kick up in horses and torque, it's a great place to begin when it came time to actually drive the thing.

Yet before we drove it we had to start it. Two words to say on that matter: Oh. Yeah.



The Camaro SS sounds pretty good when you're standing outside the car. The Mustang GT sounds very good inside and outside the car. The GT500, though, makes stupendous sounds absolutely everywhere – including a quarter mile down the road. While driving, we would depress the clutch just so we could rev it, even when we were doing 60 mph. It makes you want to eat a hot dog, kiss a baby, grab a flag and sing the Marines' Hymn. It's Team America, sung by a car. It's awesome.

Once you get past that, put the car in gear. The Tremec 6060 gearbox has been re-ratio'd for better straight-line acceleration in lower gears and better fuel economy in higher gears. Shifts are short and firm and performed via a new clutch with larger twin discs made of copper and fiberglass.



When it comes to ride and dynamics, yet again stealing from the GT500KR, the GT500 receives a suite of changes: lowered chassis and ride height; increased spring rates up front by 13% and 7% more dampening in the shock valves. The GT500 also gets the same front setup as on the KR for better roll control: decreasing front swaybar thickness by 0.5 mm in order to reduce understeer, and a steering shaft stiffener.

Regrettably, few of those improvements got our attention on the first stretch of road we drove. We spent most of our time thinking about that long-lived piece of equipment out back: the live axle. Wrenching, bumpy twists of road strung along California's oceanfront cliffs had quickly exposed the car's vulnerability – the car jumped all over everywhere, so much so that it felt like our choices were slow down or risk taking a 1,000-foot cliff dive into the Pacific.



It wasn't that the car itself couldn't handle it. The tires weren't even squealing and the car had plenty of pull left. It simply wouldn't settle down. Not at all. All that horsepower, all that refinement, all that chassis improvement couldn't keep the car from jumping around like, well, an exceptionally evil catfish. And when it jumped, it wasn't a minor jump – it was a "Maybe I should have executed my will this morning" jump.

This isn't at all to say that the car can't turn. It can. And it can turn very well. But because of the live axle, it likes a certain kind of road to turn on. And that is not a bumpy, twisty, rollercoaster-cambered road.

No, it liked the roads after that, the B-roads: two undulating lanes shot straight at the vanishing point, broken up by sweepers and the occasional serious kink or four.



Get to a stretch like that, and it's hit it and git it. Even when you are aware that you are really pushing it, the car doesn't always feel like it, and it didn't always feel like we had 540 horses on the trot. If we were already on the move, we had to dig deep into the low gears to maximize the visceral thrill, get the revs above 3,500 and then hit it. Then the engine and supercharger rise a few octaves and you begin to feel the heat. When you get it just right, it's magical. The car jumped forward – the right way – and as you bolt through the gears, the supercharger making sure there isn't even the slightest twinkle of lag as you grab the next cog. No letup. Just go.

The controls, in particular, were commendable. During both days of driving we didn't think of the pedal feel for the accelerator, brake or clutch. They were all just right and didn't bear consideration.



The car did still dance a bit, especially under power, but not to distraction. You just knew that unless you were on a creamy smooth road, there would be a little bit of shucking and jiving. Even with that, on the B-roads, when the GT500 skittered in corners, it was never anything shocking, just something to be anticipated and mindful of. This devil pony wasn't going to lose all control and put you in a ditch – it would take you to do that.

That's probably also because Ford helped design the Goodyears that the car wears. Grip was tremendous; when the rubber was on the tarmac, the car didn't slide or slither. The tires were another highly capable aspect of the car whose performance envelope went beyond that of the live axle.



Steering feel was good – we never had to compensate for any vagueness, we knew where the car was and what it would do based on our inputs. Braking was outstanding and went something like this: Choose your braking point, lay into the stoppers, make the turn. As long as you weren't playing Super Mario Kart, you were going to get around the corner.

So at the end of our first day in the Shelby GT500, what did we have? We had a car that, in the manner of Achilles, boasted an impressive set of specs: 540 hp, a 4.3-second 0-to-60 time, fantastic pull into triple digits, neutral controls, comfy, good looking and awesome sounding. And then there was that heel: a little piece of old faithful tech resulting in handling that was almost always fine but could swing from "Whoa, what just happened?" to "Hey, that was all right!"



What the GT500 is really all about was clearest when we ended up riding behind a well-driven 1970 Challenger T/A on those back roads for a while. One of the only cars that didn't pull over for us all day, the Challenger would open it up on the straights and he'd bolt, then we'd hit the catapult pedal and be off after him. Incredibly, we could hear that car over the one we were sitting in, yet we both knew it was all about power and noise and back road speed, his muscle versus ours. Someday, decades from now, someone will do the same thing, only they'll be riding behind the 2010 GT500.

The 2010 Shelby GT500 will be in dealer showrooms this spring priced at $48,175 after a $1,000 gas guzzler charge and $850 destination.

Stay tuned for Day 2: at the track, to Infineon and beyond.



Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc

The first day of our Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 drive was spent on a variety of public roads, almost all of which the car handled with skill. The next day was spent at Infineon Raceway on three different courses: a low-speed figure-eight, the drag strip, and the track. It was here that the car sealed its credentials, going from capable hi-po steed to "How do you like me now?" The answer: We like you. We like you a lot. Follow the jump to find out why.



Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc

Ford knows its audience. The down-and-dirty Mustang guy is taking his car to the track – specifically, the drag strip. Drag strip guys like their solid rear axles and Mustang buyers have made sure to let Ford know the Mustang should stick to that formula. And in the Shelby, that solid axle is an asset when you pass through the raceway gates: you put 540 horsepower down on the ground and the car behaves the way you want it to. It's Heaven. And this is where the GT500 overwhelmingly wins its case.



First up is the second-gear figure-eight. Putting the car in AdvanceTrac's Sport Mode gives you plenty of rope to swing for a good time and not nearly enough rope to hang yourself. Exploring the car's behavior on loop after loop, the only thing you're looking out for is understeer – the car exhibits minimal roll and excellent behavior on the brakes so your job is to keep from getting greedy and plowing into the curve at 80 mph.

But there's a lot of room before massive understeer rears its head, and even when it appears, it doesn't come in suddenly. You can do a decent lap just while getting to know the car, without even trying. Make the tires chirp a bit and you're in for a good lap. Get the tires talking to you the whole way through the curve, stay glued to the cones, and even though you can feel the front end thinking about straying, it holds the line perfectly. Push a little harder and you can even lightly left-foot-brake and bring the nose back into line when needed.



Pass that boundary, however, and the front doesn't want to hear about following the cones anymore – figure-eights became parabolas. Turn the traction control entirely off and it's like dropping a Clydesdale in a Steeplechase – burnouts between the curves, and instant oversteer if you call up too much power before you got the GT500 straight again. But again, this isn't the Mustang's preferred turf. So we were off to the drag strip, where the Shelby made its biggest impression of the day.



The changeable winds made comparing times over the course of the day a challenge, but the constant was we were always driving into a headwind. The first journo to go got into the Grabber Blue car and pulled out a 12.33 -- faster than Ford's officially listed time. Asked to back it up an hour later he did a 12.5. Some drivers were getting their 60-foot times under two seconds. A photographer who had never been on a drag strip before did a 12.8 on his third run.

What we're saying is that, if you don't get greedy, the car is thoughtlessly easy to drag. The controls are great, you don't need to worry about any other dynamic aspect of the car, and the live axle shines. Check out either car taking off and there's barely any squat. Let the revs run past 6,000 before you shift and the car will still be pulling in fourth gear as you pass the finish. The GT500 also comes with an always-on launch control that works optimally at about 3,500 rpm in the Advance TracSport Mode, 2,500 rpm when everything's turned off. It works well, but even going without the assistance you can still put in some rewarding times if you keep your head about you at the start.



Then we had the road course for dessert – a small section of Infineon, with blind turns and serious elevation changes. The car pulled its weight in every way, all the way around the course. With 540 supercharged horses you never worried about acceleration. And this is the third time we're bringing it up, but it deserves mention again: the stoppers and the car's behavior under hard braking are exceptional. Panic stop at 80 mph and there's nothing but linear deceleration. It is a non-event. If they hold up over an entire day like that, there are going to be some happy racers.

At speed, the car is stable all the way. We wrote yesterday that the car is 50% more stable than the previous model. That was incorrect: the car is 50% better than the GT500KR; it is 75% better than the previous GT500. At 120 mph there is only 20 pounds of lift, and because the rear now has 50% less downforce, the car's behavior remains more constant as the speeds rise. And if you want to change the downforce, all you need to do is swap in a different Gurney Flap.



Once you know you can go fast and stop without drama, all you need is to be ability to carry speed through corners. It's our pleasure to report that you can check that one off as well. Turn in is stable and confident. Stiffer than the last model, this GT500's yaw moments don't happen suddenly, and even leaned over in a turn, the Mustang wasn't put out by kerbs. Even the large-ish steering wheel felt completely natural on the track and the specially-developed Goodyears gripped like octopi.

When we adjourned, we were thoroughly satisfied – it was everything you want a track day – and a track car – to be.



The GT500 is, in fact, probably everything a Mustang lover would want it to be. And it should garner respect from anyone who appreciates performance unattached to an astronomical price tag.

Is there a compromise? Yes. There is a compromise, as in single one: it's not a fan of tight twisty bumpy roads with crazy cambers. Since there are hundreds of thousands of roads that don't fit that description, more most people they'll be easy to avoid – and besides, all you need do is take your driving down to Level Eight when you find one. Compromise solved.



But the car is $48,000, has 540 usable horsepower and you can get in and get fast quickly on both the road and the track. The controls are commuter-car friendly and the ride is good when cruising at virtually any speed. The interior is well done, can carry four people, has front and side airbags and Ford's Personal Safety System. There's even a fantastic (optional) navigation interface and a load-lugging trunk. The car is easily tweaked, won't need a government bailout to maintain, and is mean looking enough to make Thomas de Torquemada say: "Maybe we should burn it at the stake, just in case..."



Our complaints number this many: zero. Who cares about a live rear axle when you have this much power and can go this fast on the track and on almost every road for $7,000 less than a Porsche Boxster S... and carry three other people and groceries and luggage while doing it? We don't. The GT500 and its live rear axle can find a home in our garage any day and we will love them both equally.



Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc

In just under ten months, this blogger has gone from not having been inside a Mustang in 13 years (and a used one at that), to driving, in this order, a 2010 Mustang GT, a Mustang GT with the Track Pack, a Shelby GT500 Mustang and a Roush 427R. That sequence also defines our order of favorites; every successive steed has made us say "We have a new favorite!" In Monterey, we were handed the keys to the brand new 750-horsepower Shelby GT500 Super Snake, and when we gave them back we not only said: "We have a new favorite," we declared "All hail, we have a new king!"



Photos copyright ©2009 Jonathon Ramsey / Weblogs, Inc.

At its crudest, the equation for bewitched driving is simple: horsepower + handling = magic. If you can only have one, you'd probably go for handling since the motion of driving is most closely and kinetically tied to the dynamic act of handling. That basic breakdown is what has made the Dodge Viper a lot of fun, and the Lotus Elise a lot of fun to drive. Yes, we enjoy driving the Viper, too, but you know what we mean. Big horsepower is relatively easy. Great handling is relatively difficult. That's why big horsepower and great handling together is so mythical it's like the marriage of a unicorn and a centaur – you just don't see it. (Which might be a good thing, because we're not even sure such a union would be legal in most states.)

And in the case of the Shelby Super Snake, it can definitely turn into the highly illegal, very, very quickly.



We drove the 540-hp GT500 and really liked it, but it took a day on the race course and drag strip to scribble its name in our "Win" column. That car on long, open back roads – the roads it was meant for – was a hoot as long as things were smooth. On tight, bumpy, twisted knots of road, the car's live rear axle made us back off quickly, too scared we were going to go over a rather vertiginous cliff after bouncing into the opposite lane.

The 435-hp Roush 427R, by comparison, was just right. Fewer horses to pull the cart, but the suspension upgrades turned the car from a quarter horse into the kind of any-road-any-time sporting proposition we could get down with in SoCal. And 435 supercharged ponies are still plenty to get you from one corner to another quickly, no matter how closely spaced or far apart they are. The lesson again: manageable power.



So we wondered which side of the corral the 750-hp Super Snake – showing up with 315 more horsepower than the Roush, an entire V8 Mustang full of additional go – would fall on. The quick stats for comparison:

Ford Mustang GT: 4.6-liter V8, 315 hp, 325 lb-ft, five-speed manual, 3,550 pounds
Roush 427R: 4.6-liter supercharged V8, 435 hp, 400 lb-ft, five-speed manual, 3,688 pounds
Shelby GT500: 5.4-liter supercharged V8, 540 hp, 510 lb-ft, six-speed manual, 3,917 pounds
Super Snake: 5.4-liter supercharged V8, 750 hp, 710 lb-ft, six-speed manual, 3,944 pounds

The Super Snake adds a double century to the power and torque numbers of the next nearest Mustang – the one that felt nose heavy and hopped all over the place – with a negligible weight gain. That comes courtesy of a Ford Racing Supercharger upgrade kit and a Borla manifold and back system. If we only had the chart to decide how to drive, we'd look for the longest, smoothest road we could find. Or an undertaker.



Before that, though, we'd have to get acquainted with the way it looks. To our eyes, the GT500 is OEM badass – definitely brings the 'tude, but never gets close enough to the edge to go overboard. The Roush is striking-yet-smooth aftermarket badness. The Super Snake is Moloch. The Shelby hood is angrier, the 20-inch wheels that hide six-piston brakes up front look ginormous, the carbon fiber splitters appear to want to cut more than just air. You look at the Super Snake from almost any angle feel like withering as you ask, "What do you demand of me?" It should come with a permanent low hum and weird supernatural glow. And a tongue.

Inside, it's a Mustang, save for the three gauges mounted on the A-pillar for boost, fuel pressure and oil pressure, and the Shelby plaque. We only had the car for a few hours, so the plaque we never bothered looking at. The gauges we never had time to look at.



The car is mechanically a six-speed, but in practice it's a five-speed. First gear is good for parking lot speeds, but when you get down on the thing you have to shift immediately. It's like an appendix – still hanging around, but you're not really sure what it's good for; it's not like you couldn't pull away in second gear when you have 750 equines pulling for you.

It's first gear alone, though, that brought out an impossible-to-surmount-without-fancy-aids flaw – if you can even call it a flaw – in the Super Snake. You can forget about adhering to a non-smoking policy if you don't take good care with the throttle in first. In fact, the Super Snake will cut loose all the way up to fourth gear and triple-digit speeds, which about used up all the bravery we had.

The Ford Racing suspension with dynamic adjustable dampers, lowered springs, new stabilizer bars and front strut tower brace is outstanding, but even it and the Pirelli P-Zeros with which it's partnered couldn't stop the stampede. From a stop light, between trying to shift out of first quickly while not getting sideways (and failing almost every time to pull off both simultaneously), we left a lot of rubber on the road and a made a lot of mental notes to go a little easier on the gas next time.



But from second gear on this serpent is top notch on straights and through corners and, crucially, over bumps. We drove it over the same roads we had just been plowing in a Porsche Panamera 4S and Aston Martin DBS Volante, Carmel Valley Road, and the Super Snake did the trick so well we drove it further than both of those cars just to make sure we weren't missing anything or fooling ourselves. While there was a little wheel hop with the Super Snake, it wasn't anywhere near enough to make us think of backing off, and you were able to get back on the power so quickly that the grunt made up for the finesse of the other two cars. It's like the big hungry carnivore in the movies that overshoots corners but has more than enough scramble to stay in the chase. A little less maneuverabililty but a lot more muscle means it will work a little harder, but it is definitely going to eat you.

Which had us repeating this line in our head on the way back to return the car: "750 usable horsepower... 750 usable horsepower... unicorns and centaurs, living together..."



The only thing that interrupted our fancies was the fact that we could barely hear them on occasion. The Super Snake makes a lot of noise. And not just the loud engine and rumbling exhaust kind. The Roush 427R is no quiet child, but its burbling is even and not difficult to overcome with a sensible right foot and a radio. In the Snake, from 1,750 to 2,000 RPM the engine creates an uncomfortable resonance in the cabin. Below 2,500 there issues an attention-getting whine that isn't the supercharger. And that supercharger, by the way, always wants to spool up; do so much as take a deep breath and the supercharger kicks in. And when you give it the business, holy moly, the car sounds like Doc's DeLorean there's so much going on. Or the Owl's ship from The Watchmen. It gets busy in there.

But that doesn't mean we wouldn't take it, we'd just have to be in the mood for it. Which isn't a problem – there aren't too many headaches that would keep us from the almost chimeric thrill of 750 usable horsepower that comes in Drag Me to Hell packaging.

If you take it, though, we recommend you make a call to Pirelli and order a whole lot of horseshoes. You're gonna need 'em.



Photos copyright ©2009 Jonathon Ramsey / Weblogs, Inc.